Read The Girls From Alcyone: Merchantman for Free Online Page B

and away, scattering to the sides of the engineering section, up onto the catwalks above. The three-second delay was all she needed; the eight explosions shattered the brief calm of the negotiation.
    Men, parts of men, bits of shrapnel flew in all directions. Captain Trybuszkiewicz, seasoned soldier that he was, seized the moment of distraction and elbowed Corbin Price hard in the sternum, relieving him of his pistol and diving for cover.
    The men manning the turret were left unharmed—too close to the captain for Sigrid to risk a grenade. They opened fire now, the fifty-caliber slugs piercing the air, ripping into the rear bulkheads.
    But their target was long gone. The heavy turret could not track nearly fast enough. Sigrid was a blur, leaping, diving under its firing line, charging straight for the startled mercenaries. Three shuriken sprang forth from her fingers and sliced the air between them. One of the men screamed, a shrill, startled shout of pure fear. He ducked, too late; the star-shaped throwing knife caught him squarely in the throat. Sigrid was on the survivors, directly in their midst. Her own weapons discarded, she leapt on the first of the soldiers, her booted heel on his neck, strangling him, pinning him back. She ripped the pistol from his grasp, firing into his chest, turning quickly, firing and dispatching the last.
    Sigrid scanned the room quickly, infrared then thermal; eight mercenaries lay dead; four wounded, incapacitated. She sensed movement on the catwalk overhead—an injured mercenary reaching for a dropped weapon. Sigrid fired. All was quiet.
    The entire fracas had taken but seconds.
    Black smoke filled the room, alarms bleated, licks of flame marred the floor and walls. Captain Trybuszkiewicz knelt squarely on the back of Corbin Price. The fat merchant coughed, choking, wheezing for air. Sigrid retrieved her discarded pistols before making her way to him, staring down at his prostrate form.
    "We—we had a deal!"
    Sigrid pulled a set of plastic binders from her belt, fastened them to his wrists. "I learned from you, Mr. Price. I lied."
    Roughly, she hauled the fat man toward the reactor chamber and fastened him securely to its shielded outer wall. "What—what are you doing? Wait!"
    Sigrid gave a quick look to the captain. "Are you injured, sir?"
    He shook his head, squinting, coughing, waving to clear the smoke. "Quite all right."
    "Wait!" Corbin Price protested. "You—you can't leave me here. The machines—the industrial platforms. I can still get you those. Names. I can get those, too. I'm not lying. You must believe me. Please, Ms. Peters, we can make a deal!"
    Sigrid retrieved another frag grenade from her belt, twisted the top, and reset the delay for five minutes before slapping it onto the reactor's outer wall.
    "My name is Sigrid Novak."
    Captain Trybuszkiewicz led Sigrid quickly back through the ship to the holding cell where the three captured crew of the Ōmi Maru were held. There was little resistance left. The surviving Merchantman crew hurriedly abandoned the doomed ship, wisely preferring escape to combat—something Sigrid knew she had to do, and quickly.
    There were weapons enough lying about, and Sigrid made certain the Kimurans were armed before heading for the lifeboats. Her PCM fed her a persistent, if somewhat annoying reminder as to the time left before detonation. Sigrid went from berth to berth, desperately searching for one of the remaining lifeboats. She had to haul a frightened merchant crewman out of the only remaining pod before pushing the captain and Kimuran officers inside.
    The captain held fast, his arm braced against the door frame. He saw what Sigrid saw. The lifeboat only held room for four.
    "Get in," Captain Trybuszkiewicz commanded.
    "Captain—"
    "I'm an old man, Ms. Novak. Your time is not yet—"
    There wasn't time. Sigrid grabbed the captain by his belt and collar, lifting the older man off his feet, ankles kicking in protest, and thrust him